Using visuals in the classroom is an important and vital piece of pedagogy. In my experience, kids remember the concepts much better when they can visualize the concepts, tie them together with pictures and videos, or form concept maps. I have looked at several tools for creating mental maps - one of my favorites is FreeMind. You can use Powerpoint to put text boxes into shapes or connect concepts.

http://www.mindmapart.com has beautiful examples of mind maps, artists who have created maps, and tips and tricks to create mind maps.

Using pictures and videos in your maps, through programs like Inspiration, can make your maps clickable and even more useful.

Based on thorough and well-accepted academic study and brain research, the eight Thinking Map tools correspond with eight fundamental thinking processes. More than simple task-specific graphic organizers, our tools can be utilized individually or in various combinations to form a Common Visual Language for students and teachers at all grade levels, in all subjects.

"eTech Ohio recognizes that educators are vital to Ohio's future and economy; therefore, it is our mission to provide educators with professional development and resources to enhance learning for all Ohioans. This site provides information and resources to assist educators in effectively utilizing technology to enhance student achievement and the development of 21st century skills."

The eTech site offers a lot of different resources that can be very helpful for educators in Ohio. One thing teachers are always searching for is money and technology - and this site provides links for both. It's nice to see everything condensed into one page. Another really great resource is the iTunes University, which is something I had never worked with before. Being able to load podcasts to my ipod, and then take them to listen to in my car or wherever, is a great thing! I love to listen to audiobooks while I drive, so this is right up my alley!

Ning is the world's largest platform to create powerful, custom social websites. Top organizers, marketers, influencers and activists use Ning to create social experiences that inspire action.

How would I use Ning in education?

Ning has partnered with the education and technology company Pearson as an exclusive Ning Sponsor Partner. Pearson will make Ning Mini free for eligible North American K-12 and Higher-Ed Ning Networks. Ning Mini is a great way to get your educational institution online. With Ning Mini, you can add up to 150 members, and enhance your classroom, educational institution or your learning group with customized, online, social networking features like blogs, forums and photos. Read more about Ning Mini.

Ning looks like it can provide educators with a safe, social networking type of website. Teachers can set up the permissions in their classrooms, and students can talk with each other about the things they need, outside of class. The teacher can monitor and step in, if necessary. And, it is not open, like Facebook or Twitter, which could lead to students getting involved with strangers or using the technology for ulterior purposes. Facebook and Twitter are usually blocked at schools, and Ning can be allowed by the technology director.

Because I have not used Ning personally in my class, here are some links to people who have great resources:

Why is it important for students, teachers and administrators to have technology standards?

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) offers a framework for students, teachers, and administrators to improve teaching, learning, and leadership through technology in education. The site describes the digital age we live in, and how - as society changes - education must change. Students have to be prepared to collaborate beyond the walls of their classrooms, just as today’s business leaders reach out globally. And to keep up with the changing world, teachers and administrators have to prepare the students for jobs that may not have even been thought of yet. Teachers and administrators must lead in new, innovative ways - and they have a duty to keep up with professional development and changing technologies.

"Educational technology standards are the roadmap to teaching effectively and growing professionally in an increasingly digital world. Technology literacy is a crucial component of modern society. In fact, the globalizing economy and technological advances continue to place a premium on a highly skilled labor force.

Education Must Change

As technology dramatically changes our society, educators need to demonstrate the skills and behaviors of digital-age professionals. Competence with technology is the foundation.

Societies are changing

Expectations are changing

Teaching is changing

Educators must lead

Transforming Learning Environments with Technology

Today’s educators must provide a learning environment that takes students beyond the walls of their classrooms and into a world of endless opportunities. Technology standards promote this classroom transformation by ensuring that digital-age students are empowered to learn, live, and work successfully today and tomorrow. "

How I feel about The Standards

I have always been a HUGE advocate of standards - technology based or otherwise. If you don't have a map, sure, you'll drive around for a while, you might happen upon some cool stuff, but how do you KNOW what is out there? When I used to teach Biology at a high school in Texas, there was another teacher who was considered to be one of the best Biology teachers. Whenever you walked into her room, her students were doing some project or pasting leaves on the walls or drawing something cool. Come to realize, she taught her students about plants the whole year. She loved plants, and she never taught anything else. Sure - it WAS Biology, but what about all the other aspects of Biology like cells, DNA, the environment, ecology, etc??? And just because her students were cutting out pictures of leaves, and drawing plants, doesn't mean they know anything about plants biologically.

Just because the students are banging away at a laptop, doesn't mean they are "becoming proficient at technology." Students, teachers, and administrators need to know what other people are doing. They need guidance and activities. They need ideas and inspiration. And they need to know how to launch our students into learning with 21st Century skills.

Teaching is not just standing in front of the students, lecturing and memorizing facts. Teaching is a whole new profession, where we are learning coaches - facilitating the students as they think critically about real world problems, and collaborate to solve the problems.

Everyone knows how to Google something - but Google provides a lot of revolutionary ways to search for things. Today, we learned about searches such as Google Scholar and searching for blogs. There's a great resource for Google searches and Hacks at Geekology. Google Educator also offers classroom lessons and resources for teachers.

Another resource that has recently jumped onto the scene is "social bookmarking."

Any time you want to learn to use a new technology, there is usually a great youtube video to go along with it. Delicious is no different. Delicious bills itself as "a Social Bookmarking service, which means you can save all your bookmarks online, share them with other people, and see what other people are bookmarking. It also means that we can show you the most popular bookmarks being saved right now across many areas of interest. In addition, our search and tagging tools help you keep track of your entire bookmark collection and find tasty new bookmarks from people like you." When used in an educational setting, and sharing bookmarks among educators, Delicious can lead you to new methods, technology, or tips for your field.

I looked for information about Biology, Technology, and Education on Delicious. Here are my bookmarks that I have shared. You'll also notice some political stuff, and viral videos, because that's things I am interested in, in my personal life. Each of these things I looked for would be considered a "tag." A tag is simply a term for something you a looking for. I looked for Biology, Education, and Technology. As I look at each tag, it takes me to something on the web that has been bookmarked, that has the term associated with it. The bookmarks would be pages on the web that have good information on them.

The blog rubric is here. Here is a brief synopsis of how we will be graded for out blog:1. Title (1pts)2. Explanation of the topic (s) you are going to address (3pts)3. Reflections on what you learned about teaching, learning and technology (6 Pts)4. Images--topic or your work (3pts)5. Links, downloads, or film clip of what you are learning (2pts)6. Statements of how or why this is important to you and your classroom or students (2pts)7. Teachersfortomorrow.net blog reading/comment and statement of your comment (1 pt)8. Add categories tag to each blog (1pt)9. Comment on your blog buddies posts --Sunday at 12:00 AM (1pt)

I feel that blogging is an excellent method of understanding how students work. When students detail how assignments made them feel, how their though-processes occur, and their likes and dislikes, it can help me as a teacher create better, more inclusive assignments. This is like when teachers used to have you keep a paper journal - but the technology has made it so teachers and students have access to the materials at any time of day or night, students can't forget their assignment at home, and feedback can be immediate.

I could use a method like this type of blog in my classroom at UA for understanding how students feel about their labs, finding out what they find challenging or useful, and brainstorming. Rather than turning in a handwritten worksheet, my students could create a blog post each time they come to lab. They could also post videos or picture of themselves doing the assignments.